Slicing mechanism.



No. 889,938. PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908.` R. H. LITTLE. SLIGING MEGHANISM.

APPLIUATION FILED APR.29, 1907.

` 2 SHEETS-SHEET ll.

[lum

PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908.

R. H. LITTLE. SLIGING MECHANISM. AYPLIUATION FILED 81,828, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. ROBERTv H. LITTLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SLICING MECHANISM.

\ No. asaoss.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Eatented .lune 9, 1908.

Application inea, April 29, 1am. serial No. arcani.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ronnnr Il. LITTLE, citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of iook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Slicing Mechanism, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,reference. being vhad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification.

lilly invention relates to machines for slicing fruits and vegetables,and has for its 'gcneral object the provision of a machine that willexpeditiously perform this function.

In practicing my invention, l employ two knives or cutters arranged tomove in paths that are angularly related, and mechanism ior moving onemile toward thc fruit or vegetable that is being'slieed while theconianion knife is boing moved away. The linivesmay be of anyr suitableshape The preferred embodiment oi' my invention includes lluted kniveswhich are adapted by their joint action upon the fruit or vegetable, toform the slices in the shape of lattice work, though l do not wish to belimited to this embodiment oi my invention.

' in practicing my invention, I desirably employ a vertically disposedshaft having two angularly related arms projecting therefrom, eachserving to direct a knife in its travel. This vertically disposed shaftis oseillated, reierably by means eta pedal ac- 'plan view on line d 4of Fi 2.

`tional view on line 8 tion, so t iat an operator may sit at the machineand operate the knives by the feet.

Another important feature .of my invention resides in the provision ofan improved feeder which will advance the ve etable or fruit at an evenrate toward the nives so that slices of uniform thickness may be takenfrom the fruit or vegetable.

I will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accom an 'ngdrawing, st iowini the preferred emo iment thereof, in whic Figure 1 isa plan view of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of Figi. 1. Fig. 3 showsthe edal bar, room for 1 lustration of whichwas acking 1n connection with Fig. 2. Fig. a is asectional Fi 5 is asectional view on line 5 5 oi i 2. llig. 6 is a view on line 6 6. ofFig. e. big. 7 is a view of a part of the mechanism, in the direction oiarrow 7 of Fig. 2.. Fi. 8 is a cross-sec- 8 ogFi Like parts areindicated by similar characters of reference throughout the differentfigures.

The machine is desirably a foot power machine, and when constructed assuch, it desirably includes a vertically disposed shaft a, which has adouble crank b, to the middle portion of which said shaft is rigidlysecured, the outer ends oi said double crank being connected with linksc, c that are connected with treadle levers d that are mountedto rotateor oscillate upon a shaft e secured to the frame of the machine, saidtreadle levers havingl pedals d1, oscillated so as to cause anoscillation of the double crank l). The pedal levers are angularly dis)laced so that as 'one foot is being moved 4orwardly, the other foot isbeing withdrawn. The portion of the shaft a that extends above the deckf of the machine is provided with two arms g, g that li'e close to saiddeck and which are adapted to engage the knife structures to impel thesame. Each knife structure desirably includes a iluted blade orcutter hmounted upon a sliding block t that is iitted to guides provided in thedeck f, the guides .tor one block being desirably disposed at rightangles to the guides tor the other block, so that the blades lt, 7L areconimed to the directions of travel that are disposed at right angles toeach other. The ilutes in one blade are angularly disposed with respectto the flutes in the other blade. The blocks i desirably carry posts cthat are engaged by the free ends of the arms g, whereb lirst, one, andthen the other of the blades is moved toward the object to be sliced,such an object being; indicatedby dotted lines at l in Fig. 2, thisobject be ing located at the intersection oi the paths of he blades h.In order to effect reci rocal movements of the blades h, ll provi eadditional posts or stops m, which are in engagement with the arms gupon their,

outward movement. The relation between the parts m and g 'is such thatwhen the knives have been sutlicientl withdrawn so as to clear theobject t iat is bein sliced, further outward movement of sai arms isprevented, even though the outward movements of the arms g may becontinued, to which end I preferably cause the arms g to escape theposts or sto s m when the blades'h have been suiicient y movedoutwardly.y

By this arrangement each blade h may be driven m, while the companionblade is main-y tained stationa The posts .'m, m are deslrably mounte at'n uponplvotal screws,

whereby the points of escapement of the arms g from said posts may beregulated. A

eac bla e h, this stop being desirably adjustable longitudinally of theblade companion thereto, so as accurately to define the limit of travelof the blade. The stops o are desirably made of cast metal throughoutthe iirst, in one direction and then in another,

whereby the blades h are advanced and withdrawn.

The vegetable or other substance that is to be cut, is laced over theopening as indicated by otted lines in Fig. 2, at and, in order'that thesubstance to be cut may be held in place when vneither blade h is overthe o ening g, I provide -a needle or needles 1" t at terminate in ahead s, and which slide through the guide block t provided upon theupper end o the arm u mounted u on the deck j' of the machine. Asindicate in Fig. 2, said needles are not in holding position, but areplaced-.in a holding osition by depressing the head s, the block tlimiting the ower movement of the needles. The points of the needles,when' de ressed to their lower limit, are clear of thel lades h. Theintermediate portion of the block t is desirably cut away as indicatedmost clearly in Figs. 6

and 7, so as to house part of the mechanism that eects an advance of thematerial that is to be cut, along the needles. This mech- "anismincludes a rack bar v that is provided withy a presser foot o at itslowerend, which presserfoot is perforated, so that the needlesv mayslide therethrough. This presser foot' is brought into snug enga ementwith the materia that is to be slice before the ma-V chine is set intooperation, whereafter said rack bar is depressed, after. the removal ofeach slice by the mechanism to be described,

a distance correspndingto the thickness of each slice removed. Themechanism for eny position shown in Fig., 1, the roller w1 iscaused tor1se as 1t ridesv upon the cam x,

gaging'the rack bar to depress the same at the time stated, includes anarm w pivoted upon the armor vbracket u, a roller w1 at one end of thearm, adapted to ride upon a cam w, a pawl carrier 'w2 pivotally mountedupon the arm 'w and carrying vpawls w3 normallyv maintained inengagement with the rack 4or rack bar by means of a s ring w1. Each timethe arms g are moved om the normal llnllalaaamawllllaaluimm....ammllwwamstopl o is laced opposite the cutting edge ofthe depression of the 'rackbar a ldistance equal to the thicknessof a slice of material,l cut awayat l, the pawls upon the awl car- `pawls from engagement with Athe rackbar.

carries thearm w upy-in Fig. 6, sol that'it may,l be depressed `for thepurpose of removing the To insure maintenance ofthe rackl bar in thepositions to which it hasbeen fed, lI rovide a clutch device e, which-ispivote to the head t and which is pressed u wardly by a sprin el. Theclutch z, when t us'pressed upwar( ly, serves to prevent the elevationof the rack bar, so that iffor any reason the pawls w3 fail to preventthe elevation of the rack bar, said clutch will perform this office.Asindicated most clearly in Fig. 7, the pawl carrier fw2 is arrangedover the c utch, so that when the projecting end of said pawl carrier isde ressed by the hand,-i t 'will depress thel i i clutc against theforce of the spring 21, thereby not'only relieving the rack .baro of theawls w3, but also relieving said rack bL of t e engagement oflthe'clutch z, whereby said rack bar may be fully elevated for theinsertion of a fresh body of material at l. Where the blades h'are utedas indicated,

slices are taken from the material lat Z which are of lattice work-shae'. v

It will be .seen that vice includin two angularl disposed knives,mechanism. or alternate y` o eratin havevprovided a de-y the same, thebroad or luted sur aces `o s aid knives bein disposed in planessubstantially paralle .wit the slicing cuts made by each knife in thematerialoperated upon by said knives, and mechanism for feeding thematerial to said knives.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let'- ters-Patent theyfollowing:- l

1. A device'of the class described including an oscillating shaft ahaving two arms y, two reciprocating cutters, one in engagement witheach arm throu hout the predetermined ran'geof travel o? the associatecutter, each armv and its associate. cutter being sai arm is movedoutwardly awa from thel lassociate cutter" beyond. a 'pre eterminedlimit, guides for the reci rocating cutters, andl supporting means fbrthe aforesaid' elements. l v

2. A feeding mechanism including a needle or penetrating element that isadapted to be inserted within material to be' fed, a rack bar iforforcing the material along'sald element,.

adapted to separate their engagement when means for effecting themovement of the bar with respect to sald element, said means includingan actuating pawl for engagement with the rack bar, and supporting meansforthe aforesaid elements.

3. A device of the class described including a cutter for slicingmaterial, a feeding mechanism including a needle or penetratingl elementthat is adapted to be inserted within' material to be fed, a rack barfor forcing the material along said element toward the cutter, mechanismfor operating the cutter, means for effecting the movement of the barwith respect to said element, said means includin an actuating pawl forengagement with t e rack bar, and supporting means for. 'the aforesaidelements.

4. A deviceof the class described ineluding an oscillatlng shaft ahaving two arms g, two reciprocating cutters, one in engage- \ment witheach arm throughout the pre( etermined range of travel of the associatecutter, each arm and its associate cutter being ada ted .to separatetheir engagement when sai arm is moved outwardly away from the associatecutter beyond a predetermined limit, guides for the reciprocatingcutters, feeding mechanism operated by said shaft,

'and supporting means for the aforesaid 6. A device of the classdescribed .includmg two angularly disposed uted knives, the` flutes inone knife bemg angularly disposed with respect to the utes in the otherknife, mechanism for alternately o eratino the same, the broad orflutedl su aces el? said knives bein disposed in planes substantiall7arallel Wit the slicing cuts made by eac ife in the material operatedupon by said knives, and supporting means for the aforesaid elements.

7. A device of the class described ineluding two angularly disposedfluted knives, the flutes in one knife being angularly disposed withrespect tothe flutes in the other nife, mechanism for alternatelyoperating the same, the broad or fiuted' surfaces of said knives beingdisposed in planes substantially parallel with the slicing cuts made byeach nife in-the material operated u on by saidknives, mechanism forfeeding t e material to said-knives, and supporting means for theaforesaid elements.

A 8.' A device of the class described including two fluted knives adated to slice material, the knives being re atively/arranged so thatoneknife will produce flutes in said material in 011e directionand theother knife t will produce flutes in said material in a cross direction,and mechanism for o erating the knives, the broad or fluted sul.` acesof said knives being. disposed in planes substantially parallel with theslicing cuts made by eachA nife in the material operated upon b saidknives, whereby each slice of materia `may be flutedupon both sidesthereof with 'the flutes u on one side of each slice angularly disposewith respect to the flutes ony the other side of said slice.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name thisv 22nd day of A rilA. D., 1907. v ROBERT LITTLE. Witnesses: v LEON G. S'r'norn G, L. QnAeaf

